Gay Olympian Adam Rippon Refuses Vice President
Update: Rippon has agreed to speak with Pence, but after the Olympics are over. It should be interesting.
There have been several stories going around about gay Olympians who are not thrilled with the fact that Mike Pence is leading the US Delegation to the Olympics. But Rippon was the only one the Vice President reached out to in person.
And Rippon refused to even speak with Pence.
Pence “was so concerned about the criticism” from Rippon “that his staff went to the extraordinary length of asking the U.S. Olympic Committee to set up a conversation between the two — an offer Rippon turned down,” reports USA Today, which broke the initial story as well.
USA Today cited anonymous sources in the latest story, published Wednesday, but Rippon’s agent, David Baden, said Rippon would have no further comment, and Pence’s press secretary, Alyssa Farah, did not respond to the paper’s request for comment.
From what I recall, it wasn’t that long ago that politicians like Pence were anti-gay marriage, wanted no equal rights or protections for gays, and even supported things like conversion therapy. Of course we’re not thrilled about that.We didn’t forget. But I wish Rippon had at least spoken to Pence to find out what he had to say. I think that would have been interesting.
Andrew Christian Model Topher DiMaggio and Sex Assault Allegations
While people are defending a film that’s celebrating a predatory sexual relationship between a 17 year old barely legal boy and an older man, the Andrew Christian brand has been dealing with its own sexual assault scandal.
Underwear brand Andrew Christian has placed model and brand ambassador Topher DiMaggio on “indefinite suspension” while they investigate the many claims against him ranging from verbal harassment to sexual assault to rape.
Here’s more. The sexual assault thing doesn’t seem to want to end any time soon. I wonder who’s next.
Barrett Pall On the Underbelly of the Male Modeling Industry
Considering the previous link, this one seems like perfect timing…sadly.
Pall also talks about the sexual misconduct accusations lodged against well-known fashion photographers Bruce Weber and Mario Testino.
He says that often, when it comes to unwanted sexual advances, the attitude seems to be “you’re gay, and they’re gay, and you should be OK with this, and you should like this.”
You can read the rest here. It sounds honest.
Altered Parts: Limited Edition
Kendle’s Fire
A PG Rated Gay Romance
